| Diocese of Fresno Dioecesis Fresnensis |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Territory | Counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Mariposa, and Tulare |
| Ecclesiastical province | Los Angeles |
| Metropolitan | Fresno, California |
| Population - Catholics |
581,000[1] |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | October 6, 1967[1] |
| Cathedral | St. John's Cathedral |
| Patron saint | St. Therese of Lisieux |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Benedict XVI |
| Bishop | Armando Xavier Ochoa |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | José Gómez Archbishop of Los Angeles |
| Map | |
| Website | |
| dioceseoffresno.org | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno is a particular church of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the western region (XI) of the United States, in the State of California. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Geographically, the diocese consists of 35,239 square miles (91,270 km2) of the Southern San Joaquin Valley of California, a portion of the Sierra Nevada and some eastern valleys. The diocese consists of all of the Counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, and Tulare. The total population of the diocesan region is about 2.4 million inhabitants, of whom 1,074,944 are registered Catholic as of 2012. For administrative purposes the diocese is sub-divided into five deaneries: Fresno City, Fresno (rural), Tulare/Kings, Kern/Inyo, and Merced/Mariposa.
The see was created in 1967 by splitting the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno into two sees. Historically the area of the current diocese belonged to the Dioceses of Guadalajara, Durango, Sonora, Californias, Monterey, Monterey-Los Angeles, and lastly Monterey-Fresno. Timothy Manning (first Bishop of Fresno) and Roger Mahony (Auxiliary Bishop) have both served in the diocese.
The most recent ordinary, John Thomas Steinbock, was appointed the fourth Bishop of Fresno on October 15, 1991, taking over from Apostolic Administrator Most Rev. Norman McFarland, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. He served in that position until his death from lung cancer on December 5, 2010. Since 1922 the diocesan see has been in the City of Fresno with the cathedra remaining at St. John's Cathedral (which also served as the seat of the former Diocese of Monterey-Fresno). The diocese maintains 86 parishes, several charities, two high schools, numerous elementary schools, a small newspaper, television station (KNXT), retreat center and several cemeteries.
In 2003, the Diocese of Fresno was one of only four Latin Rite dioceses in the United States that did not participate in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops review of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.[2] However progress in the area of protecting youth was strongly apparent by 2005.
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